Raelle woke up earlier than Shui Xian. She got her morning milk tea from the maid and sat down near the fireplace on the comfortable chair. She was planning on reading a little while waiting for Shui Xian to wake up. Since she knew he hadn't slept well yesterday night and spent the day running around with her, she didn't want to wake him up thinking he'd be tired.
But just as she was getting into her reading, her eyes caught sight of the scene outside. It was snowing. Usually, she would turn her attention back to reading without hesitation. But today, her eyes didn't move. Recalling what Shui Xian had said to her, she stood up and trudged over to the French windows.
Slowly opening the door, she stepped out on the deck. She extended her hand and the snowflakes gently fell on her hand. She closed her palm and looked skywards with her glistening eyes.
When Shui Xian came downstairs, this was the scene he saw. Although her face had no expressions, her eyes seemed to be fascinated. It was as if she was looking at the snow the very first time. But he knew that wasn't the case. It was more like, this was her first time feeling the snow.
However, very soon his eyes widened and rushed over to her side. Hearing the sound of his footsteps, Raelle turned around and smiled, "Good morning, Hubby!" Her words had just fallen when her feet were lifted off the ground. Raelle blinked at him at this close proximity as he held her in his arms.
He brought her back inside and closed the French door. Taking a wool blanket, he wrapped it around her shoulders saying, "How can you just stand there like that?"
Raelle looked at the blanket draped on her shoulders and replied, "Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"Where is your coat?" he questioned. "What if you caught a cold?"
"I forgot about that," replied Raelle honestly. She rubbed the tip of her nose that had turned red from the cold.
Shui Xian rubbed his forehead and crouched down before her, he held her wrist and pulled her sleeve up slightly. Because of the ointment, there was no swelling. The bruise wasn't as glaring as it had been last night. He heaved a sigh of relief as he held her cold hands in his own and rubbed them saying, "You really need a lot of attention."
"I don't," retorted Raelle as she continued to look at his face trying to decipher his expressions. But most of it didn't make sense to her. Was he worried about her? Why? She didn't even stand there for that long. Besides, wasn't she standing under the shade? She only extended her hand to touch the snowflake.
"Yes, you do," he responded almost immediately. "How can someone even forget to take the coat in this cold weather? Are you planning on getting sick?"
"When you see a rose, your first instinct is to touch it only after getting pricked you recall that it also comes with thorns." Shui Xian looked into her eyes. "Humans are very shallow creatures. We tend to focus more on the beautiful side of the story rather than focusing on the bitter reality behind that beautiful story."
Shui Xian smiled slightly at her as he agreed, "Right. You're actually right. Even after decades, people believe in the love story of Romeo and Juliet but we tend to overlook the fact that their love was the cause of bloodshed." He took a pause before adding, "Some beautiful stories have painful endings. It's just how things are."
"I like it when people agree with me," said Raelle in satisfaction.
Shui Xian's brows arched up, "Has anyone ever not agreed with you?"
"They don't dare to," replied Raelle.
Shui Xian chuckled softly as his warm hands went up to her cheeks, lightly caressing. He slowly got up to the level that their faces were right in front of each other. She continued to blink at him while his hands continued to caress her cheeks.
He didn't know why but he thought that his wife was really worrisome. She really didn't know how to take care of herself. But that made him want to care about her.
The way she blinked at him was as if her eyes were drawing him in slowly. She was like a finely detailed painting, tempting him to now end. She was stunning, there was no doubt but what pulled him in, was something else about her.
A sudden thought popped up in his mind, 'He wanted her.' He was shocked at that thought but he couldn't deny it. This was his body's most honest desire that she evoked without even trying.
While he was thinking of pulling away, he was caught off-guard when she placed her hand on his wrist and placed her lips against his. Since those lips were already so close, why would she let it go? Raelle believed in doing rather than thinking about the consequences.
Her other hand went into his thick, smooth hair. Shui Xian cursed in his mind when he felt her deepening the kiss. He grunted before he angled her head for better access. Her hand moved from his hair to his neck as she pulled him closer. He groaned in response. His tongue traced the contours of her lips before thrusting it inside, claiming her fully.
As he pulled away breaking their kiss, he looked into her moist eyes. "You're really surprising me every minute."
"Do you want me to surprise you more?" she asked making him frown slightly. The corner of her lips lifted up as she went on, "Hubby, let's continue."
"Huh?" he was dumbfounded.
She looked back into his eyes intently and repeated, "Let's complete this marriage."
Shui Xian's eyes widened in surprise as he understood the meaning behind her words. He really didn't know what to say right now. As he stared at her in silence for a long moment.